Rating: 
Summary: Good book for computer science majors
Review: Although I knew C++ at an intermediate level when I started reading this book, I was very confused in the beginning, because it dives right into Windows programming without any introduction or explanations. At the same time the author goes to great lengths explaining some very obvious things, like manual resizing of dialog windows etc. After I learned the basics of Windows event handling, I was able to finish this book. Language is clear and easy, however there are errors. When you painstakingly dissect the code and finally find the errors, you feel that you learned something, but it can be annoying too. The book is not too big and not overloaded with detail, which makes for a good introduction to Visual C++, however the big picture and Windows programming paradigm are sorely missing. The best VC 6.0 textbook is, not surprisingly, a MCSD Training kit from Microsoft Press, which is intended for preparation for VC 6.0 certification exam. It's called "Desktop applications with microsoft visual C++ 6.0" and contains some errors too. I would give it 15 stars nevertheless, if it were sold on Amazon.com
Rating: 
Summary: not what i was looking for
Review: I am an undergraduate CS student with intermediate C/C++ skills, but had no prior experience in Windows programming before I bought this book. Since it assumed no prior experience with C++, I thought it could be right for me, as I didn't want a 1200-page book that tried to teach me about pointers and structs. Unfortunately, I was probably more disappointed with this book than with any programming book I bought before. It tries very hard to make things look very easy, in effect obscuring what you are actually doing. Learning to operate a set of wizards will surely not make anyone a Windows programmer. Beginners in Windows programming should instead get Petzold's "Programming Windows": it is very well structured, and spends a lot of time to give you a solid bottom-up understanding of the Windows system. To that, it is a joy to read.
Rating: 
Summary: Practical - ha!
Review: I don't know why this book even bothers with basic stuff. I would have been better off purchasing an anotated code book. Some good information, but then again, really lacks enough instruction to give you just the information you need to accomplish things. Example: iterate through a control array to compare values, or something - nothing helpful here. This book is cheap, but still not worth the dime. Do all of these C++ book writers think that everyone is just going to understand windows programming from some cheesy explanation?
Rating: 
Summary: This book is great for Visual C++ Beginners
Review: I found this book easy to follow. Not only do you get an understanding of MS VC++ but you also get a great tutorial on the MSVC IDE. I've read a lot of VC++ books that have left me more confused than educated. In most of the books, by the time you get to the discussion of controls you're already bored out of your wits. This book starts out with dialog boxes and controls, including ActiveX (great from a Visual Basic perspective), and then gets into SDI's, MDI's,Device Contexts, et al. Buy this book for a good general discussion and tutorial of VC++ and then buy a more advanced book which discusses your subject of interest in more detail (e.g., Jeff Prosise's Programming Windows with MFC). The exercises are great so do yourself a favor and key them in. Also, you don't have to be a C++ wiz to understand what's going on.
Rating:
Summary: Good until chapter 6.
Review: I haven't finished it yet, in the first 5 chapters it was very clear and understandable and they gave you tasks to do in a numbered order. In the middle of chapter 6, it had little explanation and wasn't that clear. In chapter 7 instead of giving the tasks in a number order they just said, "We'll you could do this...", and you don't even know which ones your supposed to follow to make the intended program. The authors probably took turns doing chapters or something, which wasn't a very good Idea.
Rating:
Summary: The book is great for msvc++ beginner.
Review: I spent about one month on this book and its easy to follow the instructions. getting basics down in msvc++ is very important for vc++ programmer. I agree with someone's review about no basic socket programming. I have to get another book for that.
I even contacted author and he replied to me about where to get source codes for examples in the book. keep up good work :D
Rating: 
Summary: It's a Windows programming book using VC++!
Review: I'm a senior application developer for a computer company, but we're doing mostly in Unix environment, no GUI. I just wanted to learn Windows programming (for fun). So after searching for the right book, comparing different books, I've concluded to buy this one. The reasons why I bought this book: 1. It is NOT about C++.
It's about WINDOWS programming, using Visual C++ IDE. Many other books explain about C++ 50% of it! But I know C++, and I have other C++ books. I want to know Windows programming! 2. Just right font type and size.
Does this really matter? Yes! I checked other books and the text are all cramped and printed in small size font, which gives me a headache and I know I will put the book away pretty soon. 3. This is a VC++ beginner's book.
But it contains enough information to build simple applications. 4. Easy reading, no BS.
Unlike other thick books with 50% on C++, this book doesn't go over the history of C++ and Windows platform, and other BS, and it is really easy reading. I gave this book 4 stars, because 1. no book is perfect, 2. it doesn't cover internet applicaiton programming, like socket -- well, this book is about Windows GUI programming and little bit about OS specific programming, like OLE, COM, ActiveX., 3. it does not have CD-ROM and you can't download the sample code from any web sites. This is actually good and bad. I have tons of other computer books with CDs, but I never really look at them. If do, I just "look" at the source code and just run it, and that's it. No real learning. With this book, you MUST follow the steps, go to chapter to chapter in sequence. It's very detailed steps, and gradually, the book stops telling you all the detailed steps, but assumes you learned the steps. Which I think it's a great self-teaching approach. However, sometimes I get lost although I thought I learnt all the previous lessons, then I want to get the source code to see how it's done, but no CD/download is avail. If you know C++, and want to learn Windows Visual C++ programming using MFC, then it is for you. (It only explains about API for one chapter.) The book is not a reference book, well, once you go over the book it could be, but you can't expect to jump into the middle of the book and it shows you how to do things. And remember, you must be committed to go every chapters to learn. Otherwise, this book (or any books) is useless. Hmmm, I'm still in the middle of the book, and it's quite fun.
Rating:
Summary: Great Visual C++ Beginning!
Review: I'm an experienced VB 6 and C++ programmer and I was looking for a good introduction for the visual part of C++ for windows programming. This book is really helpful! In the first chapters you begin programming with Visual C++ using MFC (knowing it or don't knowing it) and covers all programming skills you need to begin business programming (databases, ActiveX...) in the style of Visual C++. Also it has a good reference for MFC. For sure this is a beginners tutorial, but if you don't know anything of C++ I recommends you to take up some tutorial first to understand what's going on. I also recommend it for the VB programmers. Yes, the book was renamed, old version was titled "Using Visual C++", but that's don't really matter with the its contents.
Rating:
Summary: Great Visual C++ Beginning!
Review: I'm an experienced VB 6 and C++ programmer and I was looking for a good introduction for the visual part of C++ for windows programming. This book is really helpful! In the first chapters you begin programming with Visual C++ using MFC (knowing it or don't knowing it) and covers all programming skills you need to begin business programming (databases, ActiveX...) in the style of Visual C++. Also it has a good reference for MFC. For sure this is a beginners tutorial, but if you don't know anything of C++ I recommends you to take up some tutorial first to understand what's going on. I also recommend it for the VB programmers. Yes, the book was renamed, old version was titled "Using Visual C++", but that's don't really matter with the its contents.
Rating:
Summary: A revelation!
Review: If I see one more hack write their version of Microsoft Documentation Regurgitated I think I'm going to lose my lunch. Fortunately, this isn't one of those. This book differentiates itself by what it leaves out--you won't see nook and cranny of Visual C++ covered, and you won't get 800,000 lines of code free on the CD. Instead, it picks out the key features you really need to know to start getting a handle on Visual C++, and covers them clearly and thoroughly. This book assumes you know how to write C++, and it assumes you understand object oriented programming, so it doesn't waste your time trying to rehash them. If you don't know these things, get a different book. But if you know the language but are new to MFC and the specifics of Visual C++, you'll find yourself able to put together a program in surprisingly short order. At first, I was surprised and alarmed by the fact that it contained no CD of sample code like I'm used to seeing. But upon reflection, this makes perfect sense. Many of the nuances of working with Visual C++ and MFC are in working with the Visual Studio GUI and various wizards, and the chapters that concentrate on a topic take you through all the steps needed to create sample programs. The code that *is* used in the samples is inline in the chapter, but by creating it all yourself (rather than just opening a file on a CD), you get a feel for really using the tools. Frankly, I always thought Visual C++ and MFC were really complicated to program in. If you know C++ pretty well, after you've worked through the chapters of this book that are relevant to whatever you're trying to program, it will be as easy as working in Visual Basic, and you'll still get all the power of a real programming language. Of course, if you're looking to do low-level systems programming in Windows or tackle other advanced areas, this book isn't going to tell you how to do it. But it will make hooking up the front-end GUI, connecting to a standard ODBC database, and other common tasks quick and painless, so you can spend your time concentrating on the hard parts.
|
